Valentine Road

Moviecut—Valentine Road

source: Valentine Road

In the opening minutes, I thought this documentary would be about another school shooting -- and it was, but not the kind I assumed. Valentine Road exhaustively documents the events surrounding the murder of an openly queer (and stunningly brave) middle school student by one of his classmates, a killing at the intersection of numerous questions of homophobia, race, education and justice. One of the many talking heads says early on that every adult involved in the situation failed to do their job, and that's just about right. There are moments when the film demonizes the killer, showing close-ups of an intimidating hooded figure, but also moments where he comes across as tragic, the victim of parental neglect and a social environment that lead him to hate. This makes the latter part of the film, dedicated to the murderer's trial, somewhat awkward -- it's hard to root for any possible outcome. Valentine Road allows each side a chance to explain themselves, with the only common ground being a tremendous well of pain. Most of the speakers don't acquit themselves well, with several winding up blaming the victim for just being too flamboyant. Formally, it's a fairly ordinary TV documentary, with some thuddingly unsubtle touches. The closing montage set to "Same Love" is particularly cringeworthy, and leaves the viewer with an easy-to-swallow message of gay acceptance instead of the lingering complexities of the case and the seemingly insoluble question of how to respond to such an act of violence. But for presenting those complexities for most of its running time, Valentine Road is definitely worth watching.

Lies about "sexual harassment". Just stop. Larry told Brandon he liked him. He did not sexually harass him. He did not repeatedly hit on him and using it as an excuse for his murder his sickening.

This is such an injustice. These adults have no clue about the world around them. Larry King lost his life because Brandon was offended by how Larry lived his life.. School should be teaching tolerance and acceptance of all people no matter what. This falls on all the parents, teachers and all the other adults involved in this story for not teaching those fundamental values. I hope Larry is in a better place where he is accepted and loved for SHE is. Rip Larry!!

I am speachless after this documentary. How can the adults live with themselves after acting like this? It's terrifying how they sympatice for someone that killed someone else for showing unwanted affection. I really hope that people learn from this so people can feel the freedom of being themselves without fear.

On February 12, 2008, in Oxnard, California, grade 8 student bully Brandon McInerney shots his effeminate classmate Larry King twice in the back of the head in class and then just walks away. Brandon is caught a couple of blocks away. He is supposedly the good one according to his family and friends. Larry King is overtly flamboyantly gay and even declares publicly that Brandon is his Valentine. This documentary examines the troubled abused lives of both boys. This is a more in-depth examination of a passing story in the headlines. It shows that the story behind the story. The documentary seems to be trying to rehabilitate Brandon and then the prosecutor shows his fights in detention. The movie takes a turn into white supremacist area and the tension ends for me. It's kind of a drop-the-mike moment. At that point, there is really nothing to learn from Brandon. I would have argued for Brandon to be interviewed for the documentary but quite frankly, I don't see the point after the neo-nazi stuff. Maybe he'll reform in prison but it's hard to see that happening.

Watching the story on the young man that was murdered by another student all because the person he killed was gay... This is the story about how one was a ticking time bomb who wound up killing a young man cause he was gay... The saddest thing is that the school acts like Larry should have never existed... Shame on the school for being so cold and indifferent to a HUMAN BEING... We do get to see Larry and hear about his hard life... It is sad to see a young man who helped our vets and be kind and giving die so needlessly at the end of hate... Those that got on camera to talk anti gay.. SHAME ON YOU... That could be your son, Daughter or some other relative... I am glad Larry was true to himself and not some closed minded fool.... Watch this in memory of Larry...

I have always thought that great documentaries achieve greatness because they manage to strike a strong emotional reaction in the viewer. A film that covers a subject well but which doesn't excite the viewer, in my opinion, cannot be a great documentary. Valentine Road is a great documentary, as it's practically impossible to watch the film without having exceptionally strong feelings welling up inside as you watch. Additionally, the filmmaker's style is extremely effective and manages to make the most of describing this horrible tragedy and its aftermath. And, because it is so emotional and so effective, you might just want to watch it with a box of Kleenex nearby. The film is about an awful murder that occurred a few years ago in Oxnard, California. In front of his entire 8th grade class, Brandon McInerney pulled out a gun and shot his classmate, Larry. This was no accident--Brandon meant to do this, as he then put the gun up to the other kid's head and pulled the trigger again...killing the boy. None of this is disputed--Brandon killed the other kid and intended to. This initial portion of the film brought me close to tears many times. It's tragic...and pointless. You cannot help but feel the pain of the kids who were forced to watch their classmate die--and the victim seemed like a nice kid. However, here is where the film starts to get uncomfortable--very uncomfortable. Many folks now begin to talk in front of the camera about many issues that seriously annoyed me. First, Brandon has many supporters who feel that his being tried as an adult is wrong and want him kept in the juvenile justice system (where they can only keep him until he comes of age). This subject is controversial and is bound to cause a lot of strong feelings in the viewer to erupt. Second, lots of folks (particularly teachers and jurors from the first trial) come up with reasons to blame Larry for being murdered. After all, some reasoned, Larry sure ACTED gay and had made advances on Brandon...and so, in a way, it's not Brandon's fault that he killed Larry. Others argued that Brandon grew up in a violent home--so his behavior is understandable. An awful lot of folks seemed really, really invested in coming up with these and other reasons that Brandon wasn't necessarily at fault...or at least to mitigate his guilt. In reading through some reviews on IMDb, I also noticed that some viewers also felt this way...so this is apparently a common reaction to the case. "Valentine Road" is a great bit of social commentary and it illustrates the hidden divide within our communities. It will cause you to have many strong reactions and question the justice system, the school, the community and much more. But the best part of this is that the film's tone remains rather neutral. There is no narration and the camera just lets people talk and say what's on their mind--and it's surprising that folks are so candid about what they think deep within. I am sure you'll think some of these folks are total idiots! I love documentaries like this because they do not spoon-feed you and allow you to think for yourself--and decide WHO the idiots are! And, given its emotional impact and message, it's a film to see. See this documentary from HBO Films for yourself and see what you make of the case. And, wow...there's a lot to think about with this one! By the way, my own feelings about this case are VERY strong--and some of this is probably because I was a teacher who also taught 8th grade (among others). This could have happened in one of my classrooms as I knew kids a lot like Brandon as well as Larry. It's sobering to think about that...

It takes a village to murder a child. Meet the adults lacking in morality who warped one of their own children to murder another child they didn't like. They've never been so proud.